Infinitely Losing My Edge
Yeah, I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge.
The kids are coming up from behind.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge to the kids from Namibia and from Portland.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970.
I was there at the first Onyeabor show in Enugu.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge to the kids whose footsteps I hear when they get on the decks.
I'm losing my edge to the internet seekers who can tell me every member of every good group from 1965 to 1975.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Lille and Sao Paulo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Lille kids in little jackets and borrowed nostalgia for the unremembered nineties.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge.
I can hear the footsteps every night on the decks.
But I was there.
I was there in 1975 at the first Ubu practice in a loft in Cleveland.
I was working on the sitar sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen started up his first band.
I told him, "Don't do it that way. You'll never make a dime."
I was there.
I was the first guy playing Negative Approach to the grunge kids.
I played it at the Troubador.
Everybody thought I was crazy.
We all know.
I was there.
I was there.
I've never been wrong.
But I'm losing my edge to better-looking people with better ideas and more talent.
And they're actually really, really nice.
I'm losing my edge.
I heard you have a compilation of every good song ever done by anybody.
Every great song by Royal Trux. All the underground hits.
All Das Ding tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Reuben Wilson record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '70s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying an arpeggiator and a sitar and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Das Ding record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your 808 and bought a clarinet.
I hear that you and your band have sold your clarinet and bought a 808.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The Mummies,
Radiohead,
James White and The Blacks,
Sonic Youth,
Lou Christie,
PIL,
Piero Umiliani,
Gerry Rafferty,
Todd Rundgren,
David Bowie,
Monolake,
Reuben Wilson,
Sam Rivers,
Pet Shop Boys,
Amon Düül,
Barclay James Harvest,
Be Bop Deluxe,
Eli Mardock,
Guru Guru,
Harry Pussy,
Nik Kershaw,
Hardrive,
The Modern Lovers,
Art Ensemble Of Chicago,
Quando Quango,
Notorious BIG live in Amsterdam,
Joey Negro,
Gichy Dan,
Country Teasers,
The Gladiators,
Bobby Sherman,
The Seeds,
The Smoke,
Rites of Spring,
Gregory Isaacs,
U.S. Maple,
Camron Feat. Memphis Bleek And Beenie Seigel,
Boogie Down Productions,
The Men They Couldn't Hang,
Robert Wyatt,
Derrick Morgan,
Moss Icon,
The Doors,
Henry Cow,
The Dead C,
The Golliwogs,
The Searchers,
Grey Daturas,
Quantec,
Delon & Dalcan,
Youth Brigade,
Hot Snakes,
Darondo,
Black Moon,
Aswad,
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band,
The Moleskins,
Deepchord,
Bauhaus,
Carl Craig,
Neil Young, Neil Young, Neil Young, Neil Young.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.